Pliny the Elder

Pliny the Elder was a very rich man from one of the
most important families in the Roman Empire. He lived during the end
of the Julio-Claudians and
into the Flavian period, and he
died in 79 AD. Unlike other people in his
family, Pliny was not very interested in politics. He became an admiral
in the Roman navy, but he liked to spend most of his time writing.
Pliny the Elder wrote a tremendous Natural History, in many volumes,
which is a sort of encyclopedia of everything anybody knew about at
that time. He describes the spices
you could find in India,
the habits of honeybees, the different kinds
of trees, and everything else you can think of. Not all of it survives,
but a great deal does. Of course he is not right about everything he
says, but it is interesting to see what the Romans thought about how
something worked, even if it isn't what we think today.

Mt. Vesuvius

Pliny the Elder died in the volcanic eruption of Mount
Vesuvius in southern Italy in August, 79 AD. He was in charge of the
small fleet anchored in the Bay of Naples near Pompeii.
The mountain had been smoking for several days, but Pliny, staying at
his house near Pompeii with his nephew, the younger
Pliny, had not been too concerned. Mount Vesuvius often smoked.

But one day it began to smoke worse and worse, and put out poisonous
gases as well. Pliny decided that the people of Pompeii would have to
be evacuated. He ordered the ships under his command to go to the beaches
nearest Pompeii and begin the evacuation, and he went with them to organize
the operation. Under Pliny's command, the ships did evacuate many people
and so saved them from the eruption, but Pliny himself was overcome
by the poisonous gases and died a hero's death on the beach. His nephew,
Pliny the Younger, had stayed at the house in safety, and wrote
an account of the experience in a letter to the historian Tacitus.

To find out more about Pliny the Elder, check out these
books from Amazon.com or from your library:

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